COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE

13 mai 2009

Croatie

Les poursuites juridiques � l�encontre de Zeljko Peratovic toujours infond�es

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Activists from the Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders, Robert Menard, left, Vincent Brossel, center, and Jean-Francois Julliard, right

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Reporters sans fronti�res d�nonce le maintien des poursuites ouvertes le 14 janvier 2008 � l�encontre du journaliste Zeljko Peratovic, � la demande du ministre de l�Int�rieur Tomislav Karamarko, qui l�accuse d�avoir contrevenu � l�article 322/1 KZA du code p�nal prescrivant une peine de prison d�un an et des amendes � pour toute personne qui diffuserait des informations de nature � inqui�ter la population �.

Le ministre de l’Int�rieur avait d�j� �t� auditionn� une premi�re fois � l�issue de quoi il s��tait av�r� incapable d’apporter la preuve que les �l�ments juridiques du d�lit �taient r�unis. En convoquant le 11 mai 2009 Tomislav Karamarko pour une seconde audition, la juge lui donnait une nouvelle occasion de d�fendre sa position � l’aide de t�moins membres de son entourage proche. En vain.

� Il est d�sormais plus que temps de cl�turer ce dossier qui ne repose sur aucun fondement. Les poursuites �tablies sur la base de l�article 322/1 sont inconsistantes et irrecevables. La notion ��d�information de nature � inqui�ter la population�� constitue une vision obsol�te de la libert� d�expression �, a d�clar� Reporters sans fronti�res.

� Malgr� l�opportunit� ouverte par cette seconde audition, le ministre n�a manifestement toujours pas les moyens de prouver le bien-fond� de ses accusations. Les liens de Tomislav Karamarko avec les t�moins cit�s r�sument bien toute la partialit� des poursuites engag�es. Le public � inqui�t� par les informations publi�es � par Zeljko Peratovic peut-il �tre raisonnablement r�duit � cinq personnes, membres de la famille du ministre ou anciens collaborateurs du service des renseignements qu�il dirigeait auparavant? �, a ajout� l�organisation.

� Nous demandons aux autorit�s judiciaires en charge du dossier d�annuler toutes les poursuites ouvertes � l�encontre de Zeljko Peratovic �, a conclu Jean-Fran�ois Julliard, secr�taire g�n�ral de Reporters sans fronti�res.

Sur ses blogs (peratovic.net et peratovic.blog.hr), Zeljko Peratovic a d�nonc� l�obstruction pratiqu�e par Tomislav Karamarko dans l�enqu�te sur la mort de Milan Levar, un t�moin prot�g� du Tribunal p�nal international pour l�ex-Yougoslavie (TPIY) d�c�d� dans l�explosion de sa voiture, le 28 ao�t 2000 � Gospic.

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PRESS RELEASE

13 may 2009

Croatia

Interior minister fails again to support charges against journalist

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Reporters Without Borders condemns a court decision to continue investigating the charge of �disseminating information likely to upset the population� under article 322/1 of the criminal code that was brought against journalist Zeljko Peratovic in January at the behest at interior minister Tomislav Karamarko. It carries a maximum sentence of a year in prison as well as a possible fine.

Karamarko initiated the case against Peratovic because of allegations he made in two blogs, peratovic.net and peratovic.blog.hr, accusing Karamarko of obstructing the investigation into the death of Milan Levar, a witness under the protection of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), who was killed by a car bomb in Gospic in August 2000.

Karamarko failed to produce any legally sound evidence against Peratovic when he was initially questioned in court. A second hearing was held in the case on 11 May at which the minister was given another chance. He brought several aides and close associates along to testify but he again failed to support the charge.

�It is high time to close this case, which has no foundation,� Reporters Without Borders said. �The charges under article 322/1 are inconsistent and should be dismissed. The very concept of �information likely to upset the population� is based on an obsolete idea of free expression.

�Despite being given another opportunity at this second hearing, the interior minister still clearly lacks the means to support his allegations. His ties to those who were summoned to testify highlight the lack of impartiality in this case. Is the population that is supposedly �upset� by Peratovic�s information limited to these five people, all relatives of the minister or members of the intelligence agency he used to head?�

Reporters Without Borders added: �We urge the judicial authorities in charge of this case to dismiss all the charges against Peratovic.�

Judicial harassment of war crimes reporter continues

Croatia, 15. 01. 2009

Reporters Without Borders condemns the charge that was brought yesterday at the behest at interior minister Tomislav Karamarko against a journalist who writes about war crimes in the 1990s. Zeljko Peratovic is accused of �disseminating information likely to upset the population� under article 322/1 KZA of the criminal code, which carries a maximum sentence of a year in prison as well as a possible fine.

In blog entries (peratovic.net and peratovic.blog.hr), letters to national judicial officials and a series of public statements, Peratovic has accused the interior minister of obstructing the investigation into the death of Milan Levar, a witness under the protection of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), who was killed by a car bomb in the southeastern village of Gospic in August 2000.

Peratovic was questioned as a witness in the course of the investigation because he was one of the last people to see Levar alive. The prosecutor in charge of the investigation subsequently identified Peratovic as a witness, in violation of judicial confidentiality.

�Interior minister Karamarko portrays himself as the victim of defamation and claims that I want to upset the population, but he is pursuing a different objective� Peratovic said. �As well as fining me, the court could above all decide to ban me from disseminating information for an indefinite period. That would prevent be from undertaking any kind of journalistic activity, on my blog or in other media.�

Peratovic added : �It would also prevent me from continuing my effort to discover who was behind Milan Levar�s murder. Some people are counting on the statute of limitations eventually applying to this case. Silencing me could be a way of achieving this.�

Reporters Without Borders said : �It seems that press investigations into war crimes are not welcome at a time when Croatia is trying to join the European Union. The interior minister should be trying to help the investigation into a protected witness�s murder rather than attacking those who refuse to let war crimes be forgotten and go unpunished.�

�The prosecution being brought against Peratovic under article 322/1 is ridiculous and unacceptable,� the press freedom organisation continued. �The crime of �information likely to upset the population� reflects on obsolete view of freedom of expression that is incompatible with the European democratic standards that Croatia will have to conform to if it wants to join the EU.�

Reporters Without Borders added : �If the prosecution of Peratovic goes ahead, we insist that whenever any of the parties are questioned in court, it no longer takes place behind closed doors.�

Zeljko Peratovic, who received death threats in 2008 in the form of comments added to his blog, was arrested at his home on 17 October 2007 on a charge of revealing state secret for posting documents on his blog relating to war crimes in Gospic in the 1990s, and for referring to the existence of a video of witness accusing former defence minister Gojko Susak (now deceased) and a parliamentary deputy president (Darko Milinovic, now croatian minister of th health and new vice president of HDZ, op. 45 lines) of involvement.

Aged 42, he faced a possible three-year prison sentence. In the event, the prosecution was not pursued but the charges have not been withdrawn and the files confiscated by the police have still not been returned to him.

Peratovic has worked for various newspapers, the latest of which is Vjesnik. His investigations into war crimes have earned him a lot of trouble. He has been fired, he has been physically attacked and he is regarded as a traitor by many of his compatriots, who refuse outright to consider the possibility that Croatians may have committed war crimes.

He received the received the press freedom prize of the Reporters Without Borders Austrian section in 2003.

RSF, Publi� le 15 janvier 2009

Kroatischer Journalist Zeljko Peratovic von Innenminister verklagt

Der kroatische Journalist Zeljko Peratovic, bekannt f�r seine Berichte �ber Kriegsverbrechen im ehemaligen Jugoslawien w�hrend der 1990er Jahre, ist vom kroatischen Innenminister Tomislav Karamarko angeklagt worden. Er wird beschuldigt, Informationen ver�ffentlicht zu haben, die “zu Aufregung in der Bev�lkerung” f�hren k�nnte, so die Anklage, die sich nach Artikel 322/1 KZA des Strafgesetzes richtet und maximal ein Jahr Gef�ngnis sowie eine m�gliche Geldstrafe beinhaltet.

Peratovic hatte in seinen Blogeintr�gen (peratovic.net und peratovic.blog.hr) Briefe an nationale Justizbeamte sowie eine Reihe von �ffentlichen Statements publiziert. Er beschuldigte darin den Innenminister, die Untersuchungen zum Tod des Zeugen vor dem Internationalen Tribunal f�r Kriegsverbrecher im ehemaligen Jugoslawien, Milan Levar, zu behindern. Levar wurde im Jahr 2000 Opfer eines Autobombenattentats.

Peratovic, einer der letzten, die Levar lebend gesehen hatten, wurde als Zeuge in Ermittlungen um den Anschlag befragt. Der Journalist vermutet eine bestimmte Absicht hinter Karamarkos Anklage gegen ihn: “das Gericht k�nnte auch, statt einer Geldstrafe, ein Verbot f�r mich in der Verbreitung von Informationen durchsetzen. Das w�rde verhindern, dass ich jede Art von Journalistischer T�tigkeit aus�ben k�nnte, sei es auf meinem Blog oder in anderen Medien.” Damit sei auch seinem Bem�hen, den Fall Milan Levar aufzukl�ren, ein Ende gesetzt.

Reporter ohne Grenzen verurteilt die Anklage gegen Peratovic. “Es scheint, als ob das Einmischen der Medien in Kriegsverbrecherprozesse nicht willkommen ist zu einer Zeit, in der Kroatien um den Beitritt in die Europ�ische Union bem�ht ist, so Rubina M�hring.”Der Innenminister sollte engagiert sein, die Untersuchungen um den Mord an einem gesch�tzten Zeugen zu unterst�tzen statt diejenigen zu attackieren, die sich weigern, Kriegsverbrechen zu vergessen und unbestraft zu lassen”, f�hrt sie fort.

Die Bestrafung unter Artikel 322/1 sei l�cherlich und nicht akzeptabel, so die Organisation: “Das Verbrechen, Informationen zu verbreiten, die die �ffentlichkeit aufregen k�nnten, zeugt von einer obsoleten Ansicht �ber freie Meinungs�u�erung, die v�llig inkompatibel ist mit den demokratischen Standards der EU.”Diesen muss sich Kroatien aber anpassen, wenn es der EU beitreten will.”

“Wenn die Anklage gegen Peratovic l�nger andauert werden wir daf�r sorgen, dass jede Anh�rung vor Gericht bei offenen T�ren stattfindet,” so die Organisation.

Zeljko Peratovic, der 2008 Todesdrohungen bekommen hatte, wurde schon 2007 verhaftet,unter anderem� weil er Staatsgeheimnisse �ber Kriegsverbrechen in den 1990ern auf seinem Blog ver�ffenlicht hatte.� Er arbeitete f�r verschiedene Zeitungen, zuletzt f�r “Vjesnik“. 2003 bekam er von Reporter ohne Grenzen �sterreich den Press Freedom Award.

ROG, 19.01.09 12:19

Karamarko sues journalist Peratović for accusations of protecting his friend�s killers

Tomislav Karamarko, the Croatian Minister of Internal Affairs, filed a suit against two independent Internet journalists- �eljko Peratović and Domagoj Margetić. According to Veljko Miljević, Karamarko’s lawyer, the suit was filed for spreading disturbing and false contents.�

Karamarko filed his first suit at the Municipal Criminal Court in June when he was the head of the Security Intelligence Agency. Yet, the General Attorney’s Office considered that at that moment there were no grounds for criminal prosecution. At the beginning of December, his lawyer made an addition to the suit and put everything into motion once again. Miljević explains that he did not want to file a private suit against Peratović (authorities will prosecute him, author�s comment) because it is not only Karamarko whose dignity has been damaged but people close to him as well since he fills the post of minister at the moment.

“Karamarko, protector of this and that”

When asked to name at least two examples explaining why Karamarko decided to insist upon the suit, despite the atmosphere caused by the police prosecution of a Facebooker, Miljević says:

�”As a man, Karamarko feels most hurt by Peratović claiming that he has covered up Milan Levar’s murderer. He says that his daughter asked him one day what murderers he was protecting�, says Miljević. �Secondly, there are all sorts of articles on his blog – ‘Stjepan Mesić, the President of the Republic, this’, ‘State General Attorney Mladen Bajić that’, ‘the head of SOA, Tomislav Karamarko, protector of this and that’�, enumerates Miljević.

He also added that it was not only the question of the Internet but he repeated the same on television, radio and printed media. Moreover, he claimed that Karamarko would not insist on the suit if the articles were not on the Internet for a longer period of time.�

For heaven’s sake, who killed Milan Levar?

Milan Levar was Peratović’s friend and the witness to war crimes in Gospić. He was also involved in the investigation regarding “Medački d�ep ‘93″, about which he was supposed to testify in The Hague. Levar claimed that Croatian secret service agencies had the right data and evidence of crimes. Levar pointed to general Mirko Norac and Tihomir Ore�ković, the secretary of the Lika Crisis Headquarters, as the chief suspects.��

Domagoj Margetić and Karamarko’s lawyer Veljko Miljević

They were convicted but lead an easy life in prison � every now and then, Ore�ković’s serve time is suspended, while Norac managed to meet the love of his life, conceive a child and get married at the same time while serving a sentence for the killings of Serbs. Following Levar’s murder in 2000, media reported how Josip Manolić, who coordinated the work of Croatian secret service agencies at the time of those unfortunate events in Gospić, when asked to say who killed Levar, answered:

“Well, those he named war criminals! At least, that is clear!”

Thus, a former secret agent indirectly pointed to this duo. It is important to mention that Karamarko is not the only (now former, author�s comment) head of the intelligence agency that Peratović has been in conflict with since his friend was murdered.

Secret service raided “paranoid” Peratović’s apartment

Murderers have remained unknown until today. For years, Peratović has been unable to find a job in �proper� media because, in journalists’ circles, he is perceived as a paranoiac obsessed by secret services. He was not present in the media until he was arrested for revealing a military secret on the blog. His entire documentation and all computers in the apartment were seized.

The search was requested on the basis of notes from the Security Intelligence Agency (SOA) official letter, the office of the director Tomislav Karamarko from 17 September 2007. The search warrant, as said in the statement of reasons, was issued at the request of the Zagreb Police Department dated 16 October this year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs notes from 7 February, computer excerpts from Peratović’s blog.

Ana Benačić, Index.hr, 15.12.2008

Ka�e odvjetnik Zvonimir Hodak da mu se javilo troje Vjesnikovih novinara, biv�ih urednika te da u njihovo ime priprema tu�bu protiv glavnog urednika Darka Đuretka za mobbing i seksualno uznemiravanje.

ZAGREB – U ime troje novinara Vjesnika, odvjetnički ured Zvonimira Hodaka priprema tu�be protiv Vjesnika i njegova glavnog urednika Darka Đuretka. Novine i glavnog urednika tu�i dvoje biv�ih glavnih urednika, Kre�imir Fijačko i Andrea Latinović, te biv�a zamjenica glavnog urednika Marijana Mika�inović Jambrović.

Njih će troje Vjesnik i Đureteka tu�iti zbog �ikaniranja na radnom mjestu i mobbinga, a A. Latinović i M. Mika�inović protiv Đuretka će podnijeti jo� i tu�bu zbog seksualnog uznemiravanja.

- Razlozi za tu�bu su �to su raspoređeni na poslove koji ne odgovaraju njihovoj stručnoj spremi, a to je protivno Zakonu o radu. Svima su smanjene plaće, i to drastično. Sve miri�i na revan�izam jer su svi bili glavni urednici, odnosno zamjenica – ka�e odvjetnik Hodak, dodajući da mu se javilo jo� nekoliko novinara iz Vjesnika koji također namjeravaju podići tu�be protiv Vjesnika i Đuretka, pa čak i pokrenuti kazneni postupak.
Ivanka Toma, Jutarnji list, 15.06.2006

Da je situacija u Vjesniku katastrofalna znam i sam. Pro�le godine su mi dali otkaz, a mobbingu sam bio izlo�en od strane Andreje Latinović i Marijane Mika�inović Jambrović i Marijane Matković. Direktor Franjo Maletić razrije�io je moju dramu sa sada�njim tu�iteljicama tako �to je meni dao otkaz, a njih rasporedio na druge poslove. Naravno, nisam ja uzrokovao njihovu smjenu. Moje su predstavke bile samo povod. Izgubile su podr�ku vrha HDZ-a. Odnosno izgubila ju je je Andrea Latinović, koja se jo� za vrijeme Kre�imira Fijačka gurala na putovanja sa Sanaderom. Dirljivi su bili njeni SMS-ovi kolegama iz Vatikana kako je predsjednik Sanader poljubio ruku Svetom Ocu Papi.

Sjećam se da me Marijana Matković, trenutno raspoređena na rad u Gradsku rubriku, uvjeravala početkom 2004. da će Andreja Latinović naslijediti Fijačka jer da za nju kod Sanadera sna�no lobiraju Andrija Hebrang i Jadranka Kosor. Tako se i dogodilo. Fijačka su smijenili i bez javnog natječaja za glavnu urednicu imenovali Andreju Latinović. Ona je odmah izabrala svoj tim: zamjenicu Marijanu Mika�inović, dugogodi�nju Vjesnikovu redaktoricu, pomoćnicu Marijanu Matković, novinarku specijaliziranu za socijalu, pomoćnika Zorana Vodopiju, biv�eg diplomata i vanjskopolitičkog novinara…

Oni su bili kadar HDZ-a. Postavio ih je direktor Franjo Maletić kojeg je Sanader poslao u Vjesnik. Smijenio ih je isti Maletić, a nikada se nisu �alili da su smijenjeni iz političkih razloga. Pa �to sada hoće?
U vrijeme kad sam ja maltretiran od te uprave i urednio�tva na mobbing se �alila i pokojna Vjesnikova dopisnica Snje�ana Čanić Divić, koja je od posljedica pritisaka na poslu i preminula ove godine. Njen otac mi je najavio tu�bu protiv Vjesnika, ali i uredni�tva iz vremena kada su počeli pritisci na Snje�anu.

Nekako mi se čini da su tu�be obitelji Čanić protiv Vjesnika i moje daleko ozbiljnije za te novine i neke od spomenutih urednica, nego �to postoji mogućnost da Hodakovi klijenti uopće podnesu tu�bu.

Naime, oni se nadaju da će se vije�ću iz Jutarnjeg upla�iti direktor Maletić i Đuretek, pa im povećati plaće. Ako prođe, prođe… Uostalom, kakve su to ozbiljne tu�be kad odvjetnik zapravo i nezna za �to bi konkretno optu�io.

vidi jo�:

Nesuđeni veleposlanik RH u �vicarskoj Zoran Vodopija preuzeo uređivanje Crne kronike u Vjesniku

OSCE Croatia – Vjesnik